Phonograph-record.



P. H. GREGORY.

PHONOGRAPH RECORD.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 10, 1910.

Patented Mar. 10, 1914.

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aanboccaooonaoooancunaoaoonua-ooonaeouomonnoonoouoooooo- W K FRIEND H.GREGORY, 0F PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA.

PHONOGRAPH-REGORD.

lSpecification of Letters Patent.

Patented Mat. 1o, 1911i.

Application led September 10, 1910. Serial No. 581,391.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, FRIEND H. GREGORY, acitizen of the United States, residing in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania,have invented certain Improvements in Phonograph-Records, of which thefollowing is a specification.

One object of my invention'is to provide a novel form of record andsupporting structure therefor whereby in conjunction,

with suitable mechanism it shall be possible to obtain and reproduce asound record of practically any length; it being further desired thatthe record made according to my invention shall have its parts sodisposed as to occupy but relatively little space, even though it be ofcomparatively great length.

Another object of the invention is to provide a record for a talkingmachine of such a nature that notes indicating its subject matter may beconveniently applied to it without material loss of space and at anydesired portion of its length; it being thus possible to provide amusical record wi-th any desired directions for its rendition.

' Another object of my invention is to provide a record supportingstructure in the form of a ribbon or strip of any desired length, havinga sound record in the form of a line of varying depth or of anundulatory nature, arranged or placed upon i-t in such manner as shallutilize to the best advantage the record receiving surface.

These objects and other advantageous ends I secure as hereinafter setforth, referencebeing had to the accompanying drawings, in which Figure1, is a plan of a portion of a phonograph record constructed accordingto my invention; Fig. 2, isla diagrammatic view illustra-ting one methodof using the record; Fig. 3, is a fragmentary section on a greatlyenlarged scale, showing one of the features of the invention; Fig. 4, isVan enlarged side elevation showing the disposal of the ends ofsuccessive sections when my record strip is folded; Fig. 5, is a plan ofthe strip shown in Fig. 4; Fig. 6, is an enlarged plan showing anotherof the features of the invention, and Fig. 7, is afragmentary plan b ofa modified form of sound record.

In the above drawings, 1 represents a strip of any desired length and ofsuitable width, made of some material capable of efficient use for thereception of 'phonograph records, such, for example, as somegum-containing or shellac-like body which may be made in the desiredform and possess suftcient flexibility to permit of its passage througha sound recording or reproducing machine, and of its being folded forstorage, or wound on a reel. It is understood, however, that I do notlimit myself to any particular material for my record, as a number ofsubstances may .he employed so that they satisfactorily perform thefunctions. Upon this ribbon or strip of material .and by means of anysuitable record-mak- 1ng machine operating in the well known manner, Iform the sound record; this being preferably disposed on the strip inthe form of a continuous line extending back and forth transverselythereof, as indicated Aat 2. It is understood that for the purpose ofmaking this record the machine will necessarily have to include somedevice for periodically oscillating the arm carrying the record makingneedle point or other member, and it is obvious that at the same time itwill be necessary to intermittently or continuously move the recordreceiving strip relatively to said needle. The movement of these twoparts may be so proportioned that the record is formed in a series ofsubstantially parallel lines whose extremities are joined to form anendless line, either by V or Ushaped portions or by such curved parts asmay be found necessary. For satisfactorily moving the strip through therec ord-making or reproducing machine, I provide its ed es with twoseries of perforations 3 an 4 in the manner common to films for movingpicture machines.

In order that records made according to my invention may occupy aminimum of space and may be folded so as to fit in a container withoutinjury to themselves, I cut a series of transverse notches in the stripso as to divide it into a number of sectlons joined to each other bytabs or bridges of greater or less length. These section-unitingportions are indicated at 6 and it is to be noted that the slots 5 arecut in the strip in sets so that the bridge pieces 6 of three suc*cessive sets, :for example are at different distances from the edges ofthe strip. As a result, when said strip is folded back and forth uponitself, as indicated in Figs. 2 and 4, the bends in said strip occur atthe bridge -pieces joining one section to the next. In

forming a record upon the strip, the path of the record-making needle ismade to pass from one section of the strip to the next across one of thebridges 6 sothat there isno .interruption in the record made.

When the sections of the record strip are laid or folded parallel witheach other, the bridges 6 are necessarily sharply bent and if suchsections were tightly pressed together,

said bridges '6 would either break in time or injure the record linecrossing them. By, however, cutting the slots out of the record in themanner illustrated and above described, the bridges uniting twoadjacentsections will enter or fit within a part of the slot formedbetween two other sections, with the result that they are not 'sharplycurved or bent when'tlt e. strips are piled together.

In order to assist in guiding the recordmaking or reproducing needle towhere it reverses its direction of movement in forming the recordadjacent the edges `of the strip, I may, in some instances, confine itto a definite path,stamp i`ng or otherwise forming in the strip achannel or groove, as indicated at.7 in Fig. 3.y This, however, is notnecessary in every case, since I usually depend upon the mechanism ofthe recordmaking or reproducing machine to properly direct its needle. A

Under conditions of use the continuous record strip may be drawn tromany suitable container, in which it is folded in a series of parallelsections, as illustrated at 8, Fig. 2, and, by means of a machineincluding a pair of toothed wheels 10 and-11, driven from any suitablesource of power, it may be passed over a guide piece 12, during whichtime its sound record line is engaged by a needle 13, carried by a leveror other suitable form of arm 14, belonging to a record-making orreproducing device. After so passing the machine, ,the record strip maybe again folded, preferably automatically, and deposited in areceptacle. It is, of course, understood that the arm 1li` is `drivensynchronously with the wheels 10 and 11 by means of properly designedmechanism, which, however, forms no part of the present invention.

If desired, the sound record line of the record may be interlined forpurposes of refverence, and' various notes may be made on the margin ofthe record strip, as, for example, each line maybe numbered, as shown,and the sections may be independently numbered. l v

It is to be understood that in some lcases I may make the record stripwithoutthe transverse slots or notches, and wind it on reels for storageor transportation, although I preferably employ said slots for thereasons noted.

As shown in Fig. 6, I may dispose the sound record line upon the recordstrip in the form of a continuous scroll 16, instead of as shown in theother gures, and it is to be understood that such a form of record iscontemplated and included as part of my invention.

I claim A record strip for a talking machine, con' sisting of acontinuous length of flexible material provided with a number of seriesofl name to this specification, in the presence of Y two subscribingwitnesses. y

FRIEND H. GREGORI?,v

Witnesses: t

IVM. BROWN, Jr., WILLIAM E. BRADLEY.

